I heard Rob Dunn, PhD, associate professor of biology at North Carolina State University, on the People's Pharmacy radio program (NPR) this weekend talking about his hygiene hypothesis. See the snippet below for a summary. This is the guy who has assayed belly buttons and discovered a whole flora and fauna living in that interesting orifice. Dr. Dunn says our modern homes are too sterile and our kid's unstimulated immune systems are attacking themselves, possibly explaining some of the autoimmune disorders we are seeing. He is currently surveying the microbiology of clean urban homes versus rural/farm homes with pet and livestock interactions. Where do bees stand now in the immune system response to parasites? Overwhelmed I think. Food for thought. "Thousands of years ago (and more), human beings co-existed with a wide range of other species that lived around us and even on our skin and in our bodies. They helped shape our biology, and their effects can still be seen in our health. The appendix, for example, long thought to be a useless vestige with no function, appears to serve as a reservoir for beneficial bacteria that help keep the immune system tuned up. According to the hygiene hypothesis, the absence of parasitic worms from today's humans may predispose some people to allergies or autoimmune conditions such as Crohn's disease. Genome sequencing has revealed the presence of a whole lot more bacteria on our skin, in our bodies and around our homes than we ever dreamed possible. How does this crowd affect our health?" see: http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2011/12/10/838-the-wild-life-of-our-bodies/ Bill Lord *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm